Government supporters again rallying near parliament, this time against 'coup'

Party of Regions supporters have again returned to Mariyinsky Park in Kyiv to hold a rally.

An Interfax-Ukraine correspondent said that about a thousand participants in the rally were already in the park behind a cordon of metal shields and law enforcement officers. They enter and exit the fenced area where the rally is taking place.

The largest number of protesters is rallying on Constitution Square near the building of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.

At least 15 army tents have been put up in the park. Supporters of the current government are delivering speeches from the stage near the parliament building.

Field kitchens have started working. People are warming themselves at a bonfire. Composting toilets have been installed.

The commandant of the tent camp, Oleksandr Zinchenko, told Interfax-Ukraine that the protest had begun due to the attempted "coup," which, he said, is now being conducted by protesters on Independence Square.

He said that it was planned to bring up to 10,000 protesters from the regions to Kyiv for participation in the pro-government rally.

Zinchenko said that the rally would continue until the end of violent clashes between police officers and the opponents of the current government on Hrushevskoho Street.

As reported, government supporters rallied near parliament last week. Their rally began on January 13 and ended on January 17, when Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych signed the law on the state budget for 2014.